I Want You by My Side
by Blodigealach
Summary: "You said it yourself; I am you and you are me. Together we're one. If you're not by my side, how am I supposed to feel complete?" Platinum Pair. Fluff.


Series: Prince of Tennis  
>Disclaimer: Konomi Takeshi<br>Pairing: Platinum Pair (Yagyuu/Niou)  
>Warning: OOC-ness, possible confusion of idea<p>

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><p>"His school grades are decreasing again, that kid…"<p>

"He's barely studying, after all. Nothing really concerns him except that club he's in."

"That tennis club? Really, don't make me start about it. Their practice time is irrational, yet they have no real achievement. Have they won anything, really?"

"I've told him to quit playing tennis and such, but he doesn't listen. Guess he's really rebellious. I think we've been too soft to him."

"Ah, I can just hope that he'll listen to us sometimes. It's just frustrating to have a troublesome kid like him."

He sighed in his bed, completely awake. His aquamarine eyes were opened slightly, peeking blankly from behind the eyelids. It's not like it was the first time to hear his parents badmouthing him when he's asleep—or when they think he's asleep, more accurately. Don't his parents know that the walls were thin and that he's a little insomniac? He sighed again as he rolled on his bed, head and heart heavy with uneasiness.

He listened carefully until he heard both of his parents went to their room and waited until he could hear his father's snore. He got up from his bed, opening his window and climbed out. He shivered a bit when the night's wind played with his silver hair. It was cold, but it felt nice. At least it's not as suffocating as his house. He knew that his house was spacious enough, but it wasn't about the space. It's about the choking air and depressing feelings he felt at home.

Carefully he tiptoed away from his house, going to his favorite café that had this magic show every night. He stayed there for hours, watching and learning every single magic trick shown. Only when the clock strikes twelve did he go home. Those magic shows never failed to relive the uneasiness he felt. He climbed back to his room very carefully and silently before dropping himself to the bed, finally taking a rest.

As always, he was late. Sanada assigned him a few extra laps for that, and he did it after grumbling a little. He still felt sleepy after staying up late, but he knew that the vice-captain wouldn't accept such weak and irresponsible excuse. He also knew that he'd be assigned extra laps every day, since he always stayed up late and woke up late in result.

It's not like he wanted to stay up so late.

Practice match came afterwards, with his doubles partner as his opponent. He fought him half-heartedly this time, wanting the match to be over as soon as possible; although he knew that he'd be assigned another extra laps for slacking and losing.

"Niou, is there anything wrong with you today?" asked Yagyuu after their match ended with 6-1. Niou glared at him, clearly not wanting to talk to him about anything. The spectacled teen understood quickly, and just let it passed.

"Niou, 50 laps for you now! And since your swing is terrible, do 100 swings afterwards!" scolded Yukimura, who had just finished his match against Sanada. The silver-haired teen could see how the capped teen had started doing his laps although it was clear that he hadn't come to his senses yet. Yukimura was merciless as always, even to his dearest vice-captain.

"Understood," he answered lazily as he joined Sanada. Not long after, Akaya and Jackal joined them too. But after they finished their laps, Niou stayed to do 100 swings while the other three went to the clubroom to change.

Yagyuu came to him when he was still doing his swings. The brunette had already changed into his school uniform, ready to attend the classes. He sat on the nearest bench, waiting for his partner to finish his punishment. Niou realized that, and he stopped even though he hadn't reached 100 swings.

"What do you want, Yagyuu?" he asked as he turned to the spectacled teen. His breath was heavy, but he didn't really look tired. He had experienced something worse before, so the laps and swings that were assigned to him felt like nothing at all. He wasn't even serious when he played against Yagyuu, and Yagyuu knew it very well.

There was something wrong with Niou, and he was dead sure about that.

"If there's something bothering you, you can always tell me," said Yagyuu calmly. Niou snorted and went into his practice position again.

"Just go to class already, Mr. Student Committee Member," growled Niou as he started swinging his racket again, a little more powerful yet sloppier than before.

"You seemed out of shape today," said Yagyuu, completely ignoring Niou's shooing him away. Niou stopped again, gripping his racket hardly that his knuckles turned white.

"It's none of your business, Four-Eyes," he growled again, posture threatening to hit him as hard as he could if the brunette didn't stop talking to him. Yagyuu sighed as he adjusted his glasses, before finally leaving the court as Niou asked.

Niou sighed after he saw his doubles partner finally went out of his sight. He swung his racket again a few times, until he felt that he had lost the mood to practice. No one was there to count if he had reached 100 swings anyway. He raised his eyebrows and went to the clubroom nonchalantly. He took a cold shower to cool down his head before he changed into the school uniform. Still, he didn't have the mood to attend classes, so he went to the rooftop instead.

There was no one else except for himself, and he felt glad about that. He climbed up to the top of the stair room and laid himself on the floor. He stared blankly at the clouds, covering his eyes a little with his arms, before he eventually fell into a deep sleep.

The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was a pair of glasses and brown eyes behind it. He blinked a few times before realizing that it was Yagyuu who bowed down on top of him. The brunette stood on top of him, legs only inches away from Niou's waist. His hands were on his own waist; his face looked very displeased.

"You skipped classes," he stated the obvious. Niou grumbled as he rolled his eyes, not really wanting to hear his partner's speech at the moment.

"Yeah, so?" he replied lazily. Yagyuu sighed and stepped aside, before sitting beside Niou.

"If your grades keep on falling, you'll be unable to stay in tennis club," he stated again. Niou sighed as he rolled his eyes. As if it wasn't enough for him to have his parents complaining about his grades, his own partner complained about the same thing.

"It doesn't matter, okay? Just go away. I don't feel like to study or practice today," replied Niou coldly as he rolled to the other side, back facing Yagyuu. He felt uneasy again. He felt suffocated again. He just wanted to run. He just wanted to escape.

Suddenly, Yagyuu placed his hand on Niou's shoulder, softly and gently. It felt warm and comfortable, yet it made Niou felt even more suffocated. Tears started to pool in his aquamarine eyes, threatening to pour in any second.

"If you're out from the tennis club, I'll feel lonely. I won't feel complete. After all, you're a part of me I can't ever let go," said Yagyuu. He saw no reaction from Niou, so he decided to just continue talking.

"You're the one who dragged me out from golf club and into tennis club. You're the one who taught me tennis. You're the one who taught me about tricks on and off court. You're my first partner, and the only one I'll ever acknowledge as my partner," added Yagyuu. At that point he didn't try to check on Niou's condition to keep on talking. He had said so much, so he thought he'd just say everything he wanted to say.

"You said it yourself; I am you and you are me. Together we're one. If you're not… if you're not by my side, how am I supposed to feel complete?" he continued. He sighed and looked up to the sky, much or less understood why Niou chose the rooftop as his refugee. The wind felt nice and the blue sky was just soothing.

"I want you by my side, Masaharu. And you can always tell me your uneasiness, because after all I'm you, and it's okay to share your pain with yourself," added Yagyuu again as he turned his head to Niou, only to be surprised by the silver-haired teen's action.

Without any warning, Niou got up and slammed himself to Yagyuu, causing both of them to fall to the floor. Yagyuu was surprised and about to ask Niou why he did that, but he cancelled that when he felt the boy shaking on top of him. He buried his face to his chest, fingers clinging hardly on his shirt. Silent cry escaped from his mouth, and Yagyuu could feel that slowly his shirt began to be wet. He sighed and smiled a little, before gently wrapping his arms around Niou, one caressing his back and another one ruffling the silver strands. He smelled like the ocean, as always.

Niou took his time to finally pouring out the uneasiness he felt. It felt hurt yet he felt much better. He let himself melted in Yagyuu's warmth, clinging to him like a child to his mother. Yagyuu's touch and words were enough for him to forget all the things his parents said to him. He felt like his problems had been washed away.

He never felt so loved before.

After countless minutes of crying, Niou finally stopped, but he stayed in his current position. It just felt comfortable, lying on Yagyuu as he let the brunette to hold him gently. But suddenly Yagyuu flipped their bodies, making the silver-haired boy laid on floor and him on his top.

"I'm tired. You're heavy, you know," murmured Yagyuu as he took of his glasses, before he adjusted his position and dropped his head on Niou's chest, eyes closed slowly. Niou chuckled and wrapped his arms around the brunette, just the way Yagyuu did to him.

"Shut up; you're still taller and heavier than I am," replied Niou. Yagyuu smiled, although Niou couldn't see it because the brunette's face was half-buried on his chest. Niou sighed as he snuggled his cheek to the silky brown strands, smelling the apple and cinnamon.

"I also want you by my side, Hiroshi," he whispered.

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><p>Note: This is some kind of 'get well soon' gift from Hiro-kun... I got an argument with my mom yesterday, and... yeah... It happens a lot. I bitched about that all over the internet and Hiro-kun gave me this. Sort of. It's not even finished yet when he sent it. I only got general ideas for Niou's part, while he already filled most of Yagyuu's part. I'm his Niou and he's my Yagyuu, after all *laugh* I miss you here, mate.<p>

Based somewhat on true story, except that we both don't play tennis and we went to different club in high school and we didn't hug each other nor rolling on the floor together. Heck, our school doesn't even have rooftop.


End file.
